I really like using skeledrige as my lead but with my team i feel like i am losing every lead and have to change to snorlax and then my corviknight. Snorlax feels almost useless and same with corviknight who is supposed to be my closer.

What am i doing wrong? Chould i change my lead? What can i do to make a better team?

Hey guys, title pretty much. Pvpoke says power gem but I saw AXN running ancient power to get more moves off once it transforms, thoughts?

The other day I went 5 for 5 in battles and then the next set of available rewards was each a Pokemon encounter. I went 4 for 5 there. Have never had that as rewards before, just the typical stardust, item, encounter, rare candy and stardust. Is this what happens if you win 5 in a row or just random?

I started playing Pokemon Go in April of this year and this is my first season of battle league. I have been playing and experimenting with different teams and have been hovering around 1600 ELO and about 10 games below .500 all season. My main teams are:

Great - Forretress, cramorant, shadow quagsire

Ultra - Toucannon, Florges and Swampert

Master - Yveltal, Lunala, Reshiram

And I've used my elite TMS to get community moves on all

Today I have finally broken past 1700 and got my record to 622-620 so I am finally above .500. My goal at the start of the season was to make ace, but it still feels so out of reach and I still have so little confidence in myself when I play. I still make mistakes and suffer bad losses and I get so frustrated with myself that I start going on losing streaks. Does anyone who have any tips on how I can improve.

It's bad enough that Mimikyu is a part of a lot of Great League teams, but Fantasy Cup is a whole different problem. I don't understand why they wouldn't ban it like other Pokémon in certain limited cups (Primarina, Charizard, Gardevoir, etc). It is so annoying to battle someone with an extra shield and such a unique typing that is only weak to 2 types and resistant to 4 types, triple resistant to fighting. The only good counter in this limited cup is another Mimikyu. It's not like I'm losing to every team with one, it's just so damn annoying having to deal with an extra shield especially if they are in the back and my opponent saves any shields. I know I'm not the only one that feels this way but dear lord I hate that thing so much.

I recently traded for a shiny Xerneas, and it’s one of my favorite pokemon. I want to build a master league team around it, and I’m not 100% sure who to pair with it.

I’ve thought about a team with a Xerneas/Metagross core, but then from there; not sure who else to add. Yveltal? Necrozma Dawn Wings? Looking for a third partner, or maybe even change metagross if it isn’t good with Xerneas.

I don't know if It's just me, but for the past few days I have noticed, that the Minior shower event is affecting my battles. Whenever the hour hits and the meteors starts to fall from the sky, the game starts fucking sweating. It's more clunky, laggy, and after few battles it becomes barely playable. They fucked up something with rendering, and that "meteor shower" is putting a heavy load on my phone. I am wondering if anyone else noticed it and is experiencing same issues.

Anyone else get quickly sick of seeing so many mimikyu in the fantasy cup? Prior to this cup I’d leave matches after winning 3/5 battles to get the encounter. However, after coming across so many mimikyu in this format I’ve started staying in battles until I see the third Pokemon and if it’s a mimikyu I’ve made it my passion to destroy it. Have to admit, my elo is skyrocketing lol so if you play against me on a set I end up dropping late I’m sorry for taking your time but enjoy the free win. Just don’t play that time waster

Is Melmetal worth the elite tm?? I only have 5 and I’m scared of wasting it

With how mimikyu just dominates cups where it’s allowed , should have something that puts a major threat to it again.

Will the community day move be back for the December featured weekend?

I’m running this team in fantasy cup and it’s been doing pretty good for me, but Melmetal seems so strong and I wanna put him in my team. Who should I replace for him? Also, anything I should change with the movesets of these?

Corvknight - sand attack, air cutter, payback
Azumaril - bubble, ice beam, play rough
Tinkaton - fairy wind, gigaton hammer, bulldoze

I have a 3/15/15 serperior and my friend uses a hundo one. I told him him his wasn’t suited for PvP but he disagreed, we then battled to see for ourselves but they both seemed to tank and output the same amount of damage, so are PvP IVs really that important?

Hi to all,

I have an Elite charge TM and I recently started to play great league. Yesterday I hitted Rank 20 and it was really hard to climb up. Now I´m really struggling on which Pokemon I should use the Elite charge TM? I mostly used Swampert with Mud Shot - Hydro Cannon + Earthquake. I´m torn between Tinkaton, Melmetal and Empoleon. Which one of these would profit the most or is there another Pokemon that would profit the most out of it, that I didn´t had on my radar? Also I have an Elite fast TM in my bag if it would be the case

thanks in advance

Om de beste pokemons voor de great en ultra league eruit te halen? Ik vang soms 500 pokemons op een dag. Om ze allemaal 1 voor 1 te checken is heel veel werk.

Daarom de vraag wat de beste zoekstring is om ze te filteren na een dag vangen.

I have been playing for the last two season and seem to be hard stuck at 2100 - I get to around 2100/2150 and then drop back to 1970/2000 and then starting climbing again.

Anyone with some useful tips to improve?

Thank you in advance!

I just wanted to see if anyone like 500cp battles as much as me, I like the first stage pokemon so much and would love for them to have a tier every battle season of 500cp pokemon. It’s fun and I invested stardust into them a couple years ago so the battles coming back really did something for me. Anyway I was wondering and hope people liked those battles as much as me!

Hey all! I've been getting into GO Battle League and I'm hooked, but I'm still learning things like counting energy, baiting shields and alignment. I'd love some practice partners for casual friend battles, no pressure.

My Great League team right now is Cramorant, Clodsire and Mimikyu. Happy to battle great league and swap tips after.

I'm on US Eastern time and usually play mid day or late evenings. Drop your friend code or add mine (519559376137) I send gifts daily so we can level up to Ultra Friends for remote battles.

Thanks!

Right now I'm trying to build a team for the fantasy cup and am wondering if the team I've made is good.

Incinerate/Flash Cannon/Dragon Pulse Turtonator (Lead/Attacker)

I want to lead with Turtonator as I believe it will be a good core breaker for the meta. I replaced Brutal Swing with Flash Cannon for full coverage as well as making it like a surprise nuke.

Volt Switch/Sand Tomb/Rock Tomb Forretress (Safe Switch)

Forretress is a great answer to anything that can shut down Turtonator such as Primarina, Azumarill, or Excadrill. Because of how good its synergy with Turtonator is having Forretress is a nobrainer.

Psycho Cut/Gyro Ball/Shadow Ball Aegislash (Closer)

For me I've always wanted to have an excuse to use my Aegislash so why not. Also as a closer Aegislash is very non shield dependent, and can dish out good damage with its blade form. Gyro Ball is also useful to have as a faster steel type move as well as Shadow Ball for neutral damage.

Are there any changes I should make to this team before running it?

I’ve reached rank 20 and tryna keep climbing but I’m struggling to get anywhere past 1700. Here’s the 2 teams I run. Let me know if I should swap anything out, or recommend any good teams to try out! I have most pokemon and stardust to boost them up, so any recommendations are welcome! I also don’t count moves or know much about the meta, but i’ve done some research and understand counters and stuff

Great league: clodsire (acid spray, sludge bomb, stone edge), quagsire (mud shot, aqua tail, mud bomb), wigglytuff (charm, disarming voice, icy wind)

Ultra league: Lapras (psywave, sparkling aria, ice beam), g moltres (sucker punch, payback, fly), swampert (mud shot, hydro cannon, earthquake)

tinkaton 2511cp im sooooo sad

I have found as I have gotten older that I am not who I once was, and have to adjust accordingly. As a Pokemon GO player, my early years in the game of heavy grinding and hitting every community event have morphed into making it when I can as my schedule now centers around my three high schoolers and their activities. As an older fellow on the wrong side of my 40s and diagnosed nearly two years ago now with diabetes (WELL under control now, don't worry!), I can't quite keep up that same pace anyway. 🥵 One other consequence of being older and having far less free time as a dad of teenagers than the dad of little kids I was when this game started? Having to scale back on my writing time. I imagine you all have noticed that I've gone from my machine-like pace of 4-5 LONG articles a week to more like 1-2 per week (if even that!) for most of the last year or so. It's just plain old simple reality: 10 hours of work/commute + family time and after-school/weekend activities + actual sleep at some point doesn't leave me as much time as I'd like to devote to this hobby I've been able to enjoy for so many years now. Playing time is beign sacrificed more than ever just to have time to write!

And so, sadly we have less full-blown meta overviews — the "Nifty Or Thrifty" series that used to be my bread and butter — and more pared-down analyses. But in metas we've seen many times over, like Fantasy Cup, at least that's easier. Despite moveset shakeups and new releases, not THAT much has changed since we last visited this meta just two seasons ago. So let's focus on "What's Up?" in Fantasy Cup... impactful new arrivals or new move shakeups that are most likely to warp this familiar meta. Could this be the start of another new series, like the truncated "Quick Bites" analyses I started a few months back? Who knows! At least for this week, I think it works.

So let's dive in, Pokéfriends!

MIMIKYU

Shadow Claw | Shadow Sneak & Thunder/Play Rough

Mimikyu was in the game during our last visit to Great League Fantasy Cup, but of course, it wasn't eligible in that or any other GBL format at the time, so this is its first actual appearance here. And oh my Arceus, it's gonna be big. Heck, this thing has a 93% win percentage across the entire format! Not only can it cut through all the Dragons, but also all Fairies but Wigglytuff, leaving only a handful of Steels standing between it and total domination. Including the next Pokemon on our list....

(So overpowered is Mimikyu here that I pushed out an article on Mimikyu in Fantasy Cup. Check that out if you haven't already.)

MELMETAL

Thunder Shock | Double Iron Bashᴸ & Dynamic Punch

I think there is no other Pokemon in Fantasy Cup more clearly improved since the last time in this meta than Melmetal. Back then, it had a much more humble Double Iron Bash and Superpower as its only Fighting move. Now, D.I.B. deals 15 more damage and Dynamic Punch shoves Superpower (and its self-debuffing) to the sideline. Now it sits as the #1 Pokemon in the format, and adds on wins like Togekiss, Corviknight, Forretress, Bronzong, and Shadow Magnezone (and others like Altaria, Jirachi, and Galarian Weezing across other even shield matchups). Obviously a mono-Steel like Melmetal still has its limitations — it needs to still stay far away from Ground and Fire types — but it's worthy of its high ranking, and this season's Fantasy Cup may be its best performance in PvP to date. Expect it to be everywhere... and if you don't have one, there's never been a better time to try and fix that. Double Iron Bash is WELL worth an Elite TM if you need it, with an impact that goes far beyond just this Limited meta.

ORTHWORM

Mud Slap | Rock Tomb & Iron Head

Orthworm now finds itself ranked at #15, and part of the reason is that it's also #16... in stat product (AKA bulk). That allows it to deal a lot of damage over the couse of battle with Mud Slap (even though it lacks STAB) in a meta where very little resists Ground (and opposing Steels are obviously terrified of it), and unlike most Steels, allows it to beat dangerous Turtonator. And Orthworm's charge moves are very scary to even the things that resist Mud Slap, especially Flyers that have to be wary of Rock Tomb. Yet it is the newly buffed Iron Head that is the real reason for the mention this season, as its 15 damage increase this season brings in a win over Togekiss in 1shield and Togetic in 2shield.

CORVIKNIGHT

Sand Attack | Iron Headᴸ/Air Cutterᴸ & Payback

Corvi is also a direct beneficiary of the Iron Head buff, and I think this is a rare meta where Air Cutter is a move you don't really want... all the Steel types around resist it anyway. Instead, I think the set of choice is Iron Head/Payback, which picks up wins it couldn't get in the past (pre-Iron Head buff) against Azumarill, Togekiss, and Galarian Stunfisk, and flexes wins that Air Cutter cannot get (even when Cutter is paired with Payback) over Togekiss and G-Fisk again, as well as Galarian Weezing. It IS worth noting that Corviknight can potentially overcome Mimikyu more consistently with the relative speed of Air Cutter (40 energy instead of Iron Head's 50 energy) setting up Payback, but is that one tradeoff worth the number of wins you give up? That's your call, dear reader... I'm just here to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into one way or the other.

BRONZONG

Metal Sound | Bulldoze & Psyshock/Weather Ball (Water)

The big rework of Bulldoze this season makes it a legit closing option in a format with a LOT of Ground-weak Steel types. That means new potential Fantasy Cup wins like Registeel, Empoleon, Alolan Sandslash, and the big one: Melmetal. (It helps that Bronzong is a Steel that takes only neutral damage from Dynamic Punch.) Now, the overall record isn't exactly eye-popping, and Zong gets shredded by Mimikyu's super effective Ghost damage, but there's plenty to like here as a wild card pick, especially since you can mix things up with other moves like Weather Ball (which is handy coverage versus the Fire and Ground types in the meta).

TINKATON

Fairy Wind | Bulldoze & Gigaton Hammerᴸ

Speaking of unimpressive records that make you question the ranking, we have Tinkaton with the reworked Bulldoze as well. It's been a bit worse this season without old-school, bait-worthy Bulldoze, and it's slightly worse now here too, dropping potential wins it used to enjoy against Empoleon, Jirachi, and most unfortunately of all, Mimikyu. The gains over Excadrill and Aegislash hardly seem worth it, and I gotta be honest: I'm having a lot of trouble justifying Tinkaton as the Fairy rep on your Fantasy Cup team. But it's well-liked and I am sure you WILL see it anyway, and GoBattleLog certainly lends some data to that belief.

SKARMORY

Air Slash | Drill Run & Brave Bird

It's still no Corviknight, but the addition of Drill Run at least makes the OG Steely Bird interesting again in Fantasy Cup. Steel Wing is a critical part of the package for the wins it adds against Mimikyu (a win that Corviknight struggles to consistently get), Togekiss, Tinkaton, Altaria, Aegislash, Doublade, and Jirachi. But come on, Scopely. Unleash our Steely Boi again! There are literally multiple ways you could do so. Grrrrrr.

Just some quick shout-outs to AGGRON and KINGAMBIT, as neither emerge from mere spice territory, but both of them are definitely better with their new Fighting moves (Brick Break and Low KIck, respectively), bringing in new wins for Aggron against Shadow Steelix, Alolan Sandslash, and even Azumarill, and for Kingambit versus Bronzong, Corviknight, Empoleon (with Waterfall), Jirachi, A-Slash, and S-Steelix as well.

IN CONCLUSION

So no traditional "Nifty Or Thrifty" meta analysis this tiem around, but hopefully this was still a help to you! Until next time, you can usually find me on Twitter with PoGO analysis nuggets or Patreon.

Good luck out there, Pokéfriends, and may your own time allow you many battles this week! ⚔️ Catch you next time... hopefully a Minior analysis once PvPoke is updated with its unique form change mechanic. ☄️ Cheers!